3 years ago I had ORIF on my left ankle. In a dirt bike accident, I had a open fracture of my tibia, my fibia was broken in 2 places and my inside ankle bone broke completely off. My left ankle was dislocated as well, and tibia was displaced. I had a pressure sore on ankle as well to the bone where after surgery the cast was directly on my incision for the ankle part. I still do PT, on my own as is I don t the scar tissue is so bad it effects ROM. And aches horribly. I have to have my Husband pull my ankle to relieve pressure. I am a nurse and have 5 kiddos, I am on my feet a lot. I had 2 pins in my ankle to put it back in place, it is numb due to the scar tissue and damage from pressure sore. The soft tissue around ankle gets very swollen and sore still. But the main issue (after all that back ground) :) is my leg bone where the plate and 10 screws are, hurts SO bad. It aches, like a bad tooth ache. I cant rest my left leg on the outside where plate is on my other leg. The pressure is too much. If I am up walking or doing a different ROM, it burns and aches. When it is cold, I have to wrap up my leg in a heating pad. It doesn t hurt per se, but aches and aches and aches. I am worried about the stress to the bone, if it could be shifting and putting more stress on the ends where the plate ends. I am very active and I worry about hurting the bone further. I do smoke cigars, which I know inhibits bone growth. And my mother has osteoporosis. This is the second time I have broken this anke, first time was a simple break. It too 2 months longer to grow bone with this injury than normal, the doctor didnt remove my cast untill much later. I am wondering if I am a candidate for metal plates and screw removal? Or would than weaken my bone further? I dont race Motocross anymore, but I do hike, water ski, swim, etc right now, the ache gets bad, Is there hope? Thanks so much for a reply in advance! I am 36, btw if that helps. Too young to be laid up!